Gas-retort collar.



No. 888,622. PATENTED MAY 26, 1908;

. W. e. LAIRD. Y

GAS RETORT COLLAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, I907.

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PATENTBD MAY 26, 1908.

W. G. LAIRD.

GAS RETORT COLLAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1907.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILBUR G. LAIRD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE IMPROVED EQUIPMENTCOMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF COLORADO.

GAS-RETORT COLLAR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILBUR G. LAIRD, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Retort Collars,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to thedrawings accompanying and forming part of the same.

My invention relates to gas-making retorts, more particularly to themeans for closing the opening or mouth of the retort through which thematerial to be heated is introduced and through which the resulting gasis led off. The plan now commonly employed for providing a closure forthe retort mouth is to fit on the neck thereof a mouthpiece, say of castiron, to which the closure is hinged. This mouthpiece is usually securedto the retort by means of bolts extending into the wall of the mouthfrom the edge thereof, in apertures provided for the purpose in theprocess of molding or forming the retort. As will be readily understood,this method puts considerable tensional strain on the clay of theretort, and breakages are In any case there is liability of breakage,with its attendant loss and inconveniences.

The primary object of my invention is to provide means for securing themouthpiece to the retort which shall subject the retort to minimumtensional strains, and for securement depend rather on compressionstrains, to which, as is well known, structures of clay or similarmaterial have considerable resistance. As a result the liability ofbreakage is very materially lessened and the retorts generally have muchlonger life.

Retorts of the kind referred to are usually assembled one above theother in what is known as a gas bench, while the gas is led away bymeans of stand-pipes extending vertically from the mouthpieces. Wherethe bench contains a considerable number of retorts, say more than threein a vertical row, there is usually insuficient room to provide astand-pipe for each retort and it is therefore customary to connect twoor more retorts together, and conduct the gas away by means of astand-pipe from the uppermost. In such case the breakdown of one of theretorts puts out of use those connected with it; but on the other handthe connecting pipes unite the retort mouthpieces, making one aid inSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 27, 1907.

Patented May 26, 1908.

Serial No. 375,783.

supporting the other, thus having the effect of strengthening the wholeand making breakage of the retorts less likely to occur. It is clear ofcoursethat where each retort has its own stand-pipe none is affected bythe breakage of another, but at the same time the advantage of mutualsupport is not available.

It is therefore a further object of my inven tion to provide for theretort a collar to which the mouthpiece can be secured and which can beconnected or locked with its upper and lower neighbors in the bench soas to obtain mutual support, and also to provide a connection of suchcharacter that strains produced by one mouthpiece aiding in supportinganother will neutralize, to a degree at least, other strains which tendto break the supporting mouth.

The foregoing advantages, and others, are secured by certain novelfeatures of construction, arrangements of parts, and combinations ofelements, constituting my invention. The same will be more readilyunderstood from a more or less detailed description of the preferredembodiment thereof, and for that purpose reference may be had to theannexed drawings, in which such embodiment is illustrated.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows in front elevation a portion of a gasbench, showing three retorts and stand-p1pes therefor. Fig. 2 is asectional view of a portion of the front of a gas bench, showing retortsprovided with my improved collar and interlocking devices. Fig. 3 is afront view of the retort collar, and Fig. 4 is a top plan View thereof,with a portion of the upper part broken away. Flg. 5 is a detail view ofthe key used to lock two collars together.

As stated, Fig. 1 shows three retorts, arranged in a gas bench. Themouthpieces of the retorts are indicated by 1, 2, 3 and the standipesextending therefrom are indicated by 4, .5, 6 respectively. The mouthsmay be of the form shown, that is, with fiat bottoms and arched tops,and in the particular embodiment of my lnvention herein illustrated anddescribed my improved collar is shown as of a form tofit such mouths.

My novel retort collar assembled on the retort, with a mouthpiecesecured to the collar,is shownin Fig. 2. The collar7 is secured aroundthe retort mouth, preferably in the manner hereinafter described, andthe mouth piece Sis secured to the collar, preferably The mouthpiece isprovided with a suitable closure, not shown, secured thereto in anyconvenient and suitable way. From the mouthpieces the gas is conductedoff by standpipes, as 4, 5, 6 in Fig. 2.

The collar is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, where it is seen to consist of twoparts, the lower, 10, conforming. to the bottom of the retort mouth, andthe upper, 11, conforming to the top of the mouth. At the adjacent edgesof the parts are registering grooves 12, formed preferably by verticallyextending ribs 13. These parts are fitted around the mouth of the retortas shown in Fig. 2, and are bound firmly thereon by bolts 14 in thegrooves just mentioned. The strain produced by these bolts iscompressional, which the material of the retort, and the arch formthereof at the mouth, are well able to withstand. Interposed between thecollar and the retort is a cement packing, for example a rust packingcomposed of iron filings or turnings mixed with a suitable quantity ofclay and sal-ammoniac solution, to make a close fit between the retortand collar, give the two a better grip on each other, and obviate anyslight difference in contour, which might result in greater strain atone point than another if no packing were used.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the only strain exerted by thecollar is compressional, and this strain the retort is, as beforeexplained, well able to withstand. However, the strain produced by themouthpiece and standpipe is chiefly exerted as a turning moment tendingto throw the top of the mouthpiece forward, in other words, to turn thecollar on its base as a pivot, thus tending to break off the mouthportion of the retort. To overcome this strain the mouthpieces may belocked together in the manner now to be described.

On the bottom of the collar is a transverse rib 15, and'on the top,preferably at the center thereof, is a lug 16, located rearward of therib 15. Hence when the retorts are ar ranged as shown in Figs. 1 and 2the lug on each collar will lie to the rear of the adjacent rib on thecollar just above. Between the lug and the rib a key 17, preferablytapering as shown in Fig. 5, is then driven, so as to bear at its topedge on the rib and at its bottom edge on the lug. The result is, aswill be readily seen, that the strain which tends to throw the top ofthe lower collar outward is exerted against the key and through thelatter against the bottom of the upper collar; at the same time thestrain of the mouth piece and standpipe on the upper collar tends tothrow the bottom of the collar inward rather than outward, thus exertingitself against the opposite strain exerted by the top of the lowercollar. Hence the strains which otherwise would tend to distort and inconsequence break the retorts are not merely neutralized but are evenutilized to hold the collars more firmly in position. With themouthpieces thus braced or supported the retorts are also better able towithstand the careless use of the rake employed for handling thematerial in the retort. This rake is long and heavy, and in the hands ofa careless workman often strikes the mouthpiece with considerable force,sometimes sufficient to break the retort.

In order to permit the retorts, when necessary or desirable, to bearranged as in Fig. 1, with one or more off-set to the right or left ofthe vertical series to conform to the arched top of the retort oven,shown in dotted lines at 18, and still permit the mouthpieces to belocked together as just described, the ribs 15 are made of some length,for example extending substantially the full width of the bottom. Thusin Fig. 1, retort 1 lies considerably to the right of retort 2, but therib on the former nevertheless extends past the lug on the latter andthe two can therefore be keyed together as shown.

As previously stated, the devices herein specifically shown anddescribed constitute merely the preferred embodiment of my invention,which is capable of wide variation in form, arrangement, number, andproportions of parts, etc., without departing from the proper scope ofthe invention as defined by the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a retort, of a collar secured around the mouththereof and constructed to exert compression on the portion of theretort engaged by the collar, and a mouthpiece secured to the collar, asset forth.

2. The combination with a retort, of a collar secured around the mouththereof and constructed to exert compression on the portion of theretort engaged by the collar, and a mouthpiece detachably secured to thecollar, as set forth.

3. The combination with a retort, of a collar composed of radiallyseparable parts, means for drawing the'said parts firmly together aroundthe mouth of the retort, and a mouthpiece secured to the collar.

4. A retort collar composed of radially separable parts, and means fordrawingthe said parts together 011 the retort around the -mouth thereof,as set forth.

5. A retort collar composed of radially separable parts, and bindingbolts arranged to draw the said arts together on the retort around themouti thereof, as set forth.

6. A retort collar composed of radially separable parts formed at theiradjacent edges with recesses to receive binding devices for binding theparts around the mouth of 'a retort, as set forth.

7. A retort collar composed of radially separable parts having at theiradjacent edges ribs forming registering grooves for the reception ofbinding bolts, as set forth.

8. The combination with a retort, of a collar composed of radiallyseparable arts, means for binding the said parts firm y on the retortaround the mouth thereof, and a packing between the collar and theretort, whereby the pressure of the collar will be substantially uniformon the retort around the mouth, as set forth.

9. The combination with a plurality of retorts arranged one above theother, of collars on the retorts around the mouths thereof, and meansfor locking the top of a collar to the bottom of the collar neXt above,as set forth.

10. In a gas bench, the combination with retorts arranged one above theother with their mouths at the front of the bench, of collars on theretorts around the mouths thereof, and means for causing strains tendingto throw the top of the collar outward to be exerted against the bottomof the collar next above, as set forth.

11. In a gas bench having retorts arranged one above the other, thecombination with a retort and the one next above, of collars on theretorts around the mouths thereof, the upper collar having on its bottoma transverse rib and the lower collar having on its top a lug located tothe rear of the said rib, and a key between the rib and the lug, as setforth.

12. A retort collar having on its bottom a rib, and on its top a lugrear'ward of the rib, as set forth.

13. A retort collar having a flat bottom, and a transverse rib on thebottom, extending on either side of the center thereof, as set forth.

14. A retort collar having a flat bottom, and a transverse rib on itsbottom, extending from side to side thereof.

15. A retort collar having a flat bottom and an arched top, a rib on thebottom thereof, and on the top a lug rearward of the rib, as set forth.

16. A retort collar composed of radially se arable parts, a rib on thebottom of the co lar, and on the top of the collar a lug rear-- ward ofthe rib, as set forth.

WILBUR G. LAIRD. Witnesses: 1

S. S. DUNHAM,

M. LAWSON DYER.

